President Trump recently issued an Executive Order (EO) designed to accelerate permitting. It limits environmental reviews and increases technology use, including eliminating paper application and review processes.
Broadband service providers have often sought speedier permitting for building out broadband networks, Inside Towers reported. The industry wants to know whether the EO will accelerate permitting, while lowering construction costs.
The EO states that “Executive departments and agencies shall make maximum use of technology in environmental review and permitting processes for infrastructure projects of all kinds, such as roads, bridges, mines, factories, power plants, and others.” It suggests “eliminating friction in coordination between agencies” in the environmental review and permitting processes and streamlining the overall process. It also suggests “improving the transparency and predictability of project permitting schedules” and establishing an “interagency Permitting Innovation Center” to facilitate permitting and interagency coordination.
New Street Research (NSR) Policy Advisor Blair Levin says the EO doesn’t explicitly mention “broadband” but says in a client note that could be included. It was curious to NSR that data centers were not mentioned either, but surmises they could also be included, which would lead to “permitting related to enabling broadband connectivity between the data centers and other locations.”
Poles are not mentioned in the EO either. Access to utility poles are the biggest concern NSR has heard from ISPs regarding network expansion.
NSR believes the EO could have “some indirect” benefits to broadband network providers. “Moving from paper to IT solutions may be useful both for federal permitting and laying a foundation for doing the same for state and local permitting,” states Levin. “A permitting innovation center could produce innovations that could filter down to the state and local levels and be helpful over time.”
Over time, NSR believes FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and ISPs could have a chance to “weigh in with those implementing the EO and seek outcomes that would improve permitting for broadband in some situations.”
“The EO appears primarily concerned about environmental regulations. While we don’t believe those are the primary concerns related to ISPs and deployment, those regulations have been an issue in some deployments,” notes Levin.
Overall, NSR doesn’t believe the EO will “be material” to reducing the time and costs of broadband deployment, but it’s possible it “leads to technological developments and other innovations that do have that impact.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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